Manufacture of liquid containers



June 5, 1945. L. SHAKESBY MANUFACTURE OF LIQUID CONTAINERS Filed June 20, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l 22 Leonard 571M665 y, m \.P M&QM.

June 5, 1945. L, SHAKE BY 2,377,722

MANUFACTURE OF LIQUID CONTAINERS Fil'ed June 20, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwuam/fo o Leonard ShaICCSby,

Patented June 5, 1945 UNITED STATES 7 OFFICE F MANUFACTURE OF LIQUID ooNTAlNErts Leonard Shakesby, Bradmore, Wolverhampton,

England, assignor to Imperial Chemical Indus- 7 tries Limited, a corporation of Great Britain Application June 2&0, 1941, Sam No. 399,934?

In Great Britain April 19,1940

10 Claims. (Cl. 154-435).

This invention relates to liquid containers and more particularly to liquid fuel or oil containers for aircraft or other vehicles in which the container envelope comprises a flexible material treated to render it capable of retaining liquid fuel or oil. 3

It has been proposed to provide liquid fuel containers of the kind described and to mount such containers within the. fuselage or. wing structure of an aircraft. Insuch proposalsthe flexible containers have been of substantially rectangular or other simple shape and, of suflicient size torender manufacture comparatively easy. Modern requirements, however, call for fuel or oil containers to be housed in any available space in the fuselage or wing structure irrespective of the size or shape of such space, and consequently containers of complicated and varied shape are frequently required. The manufacture of such containers presents many difficulties where the envelope consists of flexible material, especially whereoperations have to be carried. out subsequently to the assembly of the component parts of the envelope, such for example as the provision of a bullet-proof coating.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of manufacturing liquid containers of the kind referred to in which con.- tainers of even complicated shapes canbe constructed accurately and in a simple and efficient manner and in which the carrying out of operations after assembly of the component parts of the envelope is facilitated.

According to the present invention,.I provide a method for the manufacture of fuel containers of the kind described comprising tailoring, as-v sembling and securing the component parts of the container on a collapsible former, collapsing and removing the said former from the interior of the container through a relativelysmallaperture in one of the walls thereof to permit of a stitching or equivalent operation, and re-inserting and re-ereoting the collapsed former in the interior of the stitched container and conducting on the container operations of the kind which require the container to be in the supported condition and subsequently collapsing the former and removing the same from the interior of the container. Such operations maycomprise, ior ex ample, leak-proofing the rows of stitching or the like, or covering'thecontainerwith. a selfsealing protective covering. I

The collapsible former may comprise a plurality of strips or lath-like members adapted to pro.- vide a substantially continuous supporting surand is to be built 2 in conformity with the shape face for at least part of the wall area of thecon-f tainer, a'ndfthe said members may be secured together by. couplinglinks on their interior surfaces.- I may use the collapsible formers de: scribed in my co-pending British application No. 7,112/40. One methodof carrying my invention into effect is illustrated inthe drawings accompany: ing the specification, in which Figure l is a perspective view of a collapsible former in accordanc with the present invention.

staves and connected together by links 3 .detach ably secured on the inner surfaces 4 of thes'aid members 2.by winged screws 5; The said former outlines the form of aliquid fuel container 6,

ofcontainer to be produced. In the example here shownfor purposes of disclosure the openend portions 1,8 of the former outline the plane end walls 9 and lllof .the'container, and a curved outer surface ll of the former I outlines a similarly curved portion of the said container.

In the first stage of manufacture of the flexible container, the end walls 9, l0 correspondingin shape to the open ends 1 and 8.respectively of the former are cut from fabric material which is treated with petrol-resistant synthetic. rubber to render it capable of retaining petrol fuel when made up'into the finished container. As is well v 3 known, neoprene (polymers or interpolymers of chloroprene) or any other petroleum-resistant.

rubber composition maybe here employed. The end Walls are made oversize to the extent of a margin of some two inchesall round. In the more central area of one of the said end walls is cut an aperture H, of some four inches diameter. pleated as shown at l3, and the inner surfaces of each of the pleats are cemented together by the application thereto of an adhesive comprisinga solution of synthetic. rubber (as for example. neoprene)" ina suitable solvent. -The-marginal portion of each of the end walls 9 and I0 is thus turned. over at right angles to form a flanged portion ,so that each of the said end thereof.

The said finsarefolded flat against and ce merited to the flanged portion I I as s hown at The respective margins are tailored and l l6 and are madefsecure by the action of a squee-gee roller (not shown), which is operated to compress the fabric material against the curved surface ll of the former l. The end walls 9, l are then removed from the said former, turned inside-out so that the pleats are thereby transferred to the inner periphery of the flanged portion thus providing. a substantially smooth uninterrupted outside periphery and the end walls are then replaced on the former I. Instead of pleating the material of the flange in the manner shown in the drawings, the ex cess material of the pleats may be removed by cutting a. number of V-shaped portions along the marginal edges of the end walls. These cutaway portions enable the material to be formed into a smooth flange which is then reinforced by a fabric band cemented to the outersurface of the flange. The cemented joint is made secure under the action of a squee-gee roller while the end walls are positioned on the former- The end walls are then removed from the former and are turned inside-out so that the reinforcing band is on the inner periphery of the flanged portion.

' A strip I! of treated fabric, resistant to petrol and of a width equal to the length of the members 2, is then wrapped around the curved surface of the former. The length of the said strip is such as to permit of its ends l8, l9 being overlapped to form an endless wall 20. The longitudinal edges 2|, 22 of the said strip are cemented to the flanged portions [4 of the end walls 9, ID, to form joints 2|, 22 therewith and the overlapped ends I8, H] are likewise cemented together to form a lap joint 23. The said joints are consolidated by rolling with the squee-gee roller. This cementing of the flanged portion I4 and the edges 20 and N d the strip l1 forms a preliminary or provisional joining of the parts,

preparatory to their being permanently fastened mechanically in completing the operation, as, for example, by stitching. When the endless wall 20 has been secured to the end walls 9, I0, the former is collapsed in the interior of the container by unscrewing the winged screws I 5, and the component parts of the said former are withdrawn through the aperture l2. The container, with the former thus removed, is then jected to a vulcanising process to bond the seams more securely to form leak-proof joints and to render the synthetic rubber, which is used in the treated fabric and in the joints, tough and petrol-resistant. The aperture I2 is utilised for the attachment of a filler cap or other fitting.

If desired, a self-sealing protective covering of any suitable kind may be applied to the container for the purpose of preventing or minimis- 11) ing leakage of fuel due to damage by projectiles 5 or more layers of self-sealing material such as terial, and the outer surface of the container are swellable rubber to the outer surface of the container. The swellable rubber, as is well known, may comprise caoutchouc and, advantageously, so-called crepe rubber. The self-sealing macoated with adhesive, and the coated areas brought into contact, and firmly pressed together,

as by rolling. When a bullet-proof covering is to be applied to the container, the vulcanising process is preferably carried out before the application of the said covering.

I claim:

1. A method for the manufacture of fuel containers of the class described comprising fitting and assembling a plurality of pieces of sheet 'fabric about a collapsible former, provisionally joining the margins of the pieces together to form a container having a continuous wall with a relatively small aperture therein, collapsing and removing said former from the interior of the container through said relatively small aperture in the wall thereof, permanently stitching the provisionally joined margins together while the former is removed in order to positively conau nect said margins, re-inserting and re-erecting the collapsed former in the interior of the container, attaching to the outer surface of said container a self sealing protective layer adapted to swell in the presence of a hydrocarbon fuel while the container is in supported condition and subsubmitted to a stitching operation to reinforce the joints 2!, 22, and 23 by rows of stitching as shown at 24. When the stitching operation is completed, the component parts of the former ing them with the synthetic rubber.' This is conveniently achieved by painting a solution of synthetic rubber on to the fabric in the locality of the stitches, and if desired, by applying reinforcing strips of fabric which are rolled with the roller to consolidate the joints. When all the rows of stitches have been covered, and thus made leak-proof, the former is again removed from the interior of the partly-completed container, and the said container is subouter surface of the container by coating said container and said self sealingcovering with adhesive and bringing the coated areas into contact.

3. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the self sealing protective covering is applied to the outer surface of the container by coating said container and said self sealing covering with adhesive and bring the coated areas into firm contact by the application of pressure.

4. A method for the manufacture of fuel con (W tainers of the class described comprising fitting and applying on a collapsible former two end walls of petroleum resistant fabric material, said end walls having laterally extending marginal flanges overlapping the said former, applying a central -3 strip between the said end walls and 0f suflicient width to overlap the'said flanges of said end walls,

cementing the lateral sid marginal portions of said strip to the said flange portions overlapped thereby to effect a provisional joining of parts,

removing the said former from the interior of the container through a relatively small aperture in one of the walls thereof, carrying out a stitching operation the performance of which requires access to the interior surface of the container,

reinserting and re-erecting the collapsible former in the interior of the container, fitting and applying an outer coating to portions at least of said containers while supported. by said collapsible former and subsequently collapsing the former and removing the same from the interior of the container.

. 5. The method as defined in claim 4 wherein said flanged end walls are shaped upon said former and after shaping are removed from the former, turned inside out and replaced thereon before fitting the central portion of the container.

collapsing the former and removin the same from the interior of the container.

9. A method for the manufactureof fuel con- I tainers of the class described comprising fitting 6. A method for the manufacture of .fuel containers of the clas described comprising fitting and assembling a plurality of pieces of flexible sheet material about acollapsible former, pro

former is removed in order to positively connect said margins, re-inserting and re-erecting the collapsed former in the interior of the container and applying an outer coating to the points 'of juncture of the mechanically held margins while the container is in supported condition and subsequently collapsing the former and removing the same from the interior of the container.

7. A method as defined in claim 6 wherein a container fitting such as a filler cap attachment is applied to the said relatively small aperture.

8. A method for the manufacture of fuel container of the class described comprising fitting and assembling a plurality of pieces of sheet fabric about a collapsible former, provisionally joining the margins of the pieces together to form a container having a continuous wall with a relatively small aperture therein, collapsing and removing said former from theinterior of the container through said relatively small aperture in the wall thereof, permanently stitching the provisionally joined margins together while i the former is removed in order to positively connect said margins, re-inserting and ire-erecting the collapsed former in the interior of the container and assembling a plurality of pieces of sheet fabric about a collapsible former,provisionally joining the margins of the pieces together to form a container having a continuous wall with a relatively small aperture therein, collapsing and removing said former from the interior of the container through said relatively small aperture in the walls thereof, permanently stitching the provisionally joined margins together while the former is removed in order to positively connect said margins, re-inserting and re-erecting the collapsed former in the interior of the container and coating the rows of stitchin with a synthetic rubber composition adapted to leakproof the area while the container is in supported condition and subsequently collapsing the former and removing the same from the interior of the container.

. 10. A method for the manufacture of fuel containers of the class described comprising fitting and assembling a plurality of pieces of sheet fabric about a collapsible former, provisionally joining the margins of the pieces together to form a container having a continuous wall with a relatively small aperture therein, collapsing and removing said former from the interior of the container through said relatively small aperture in the wall thereof, permanently stitching the provisionally joined margins together while the ,former is removed in order to positively connect said margins, re-inserting and re-erectin the collapsed former-in the interior of the container subsequently collapsing the former and removing the same from the interior of the container.

LEONARD SHAKESBY. 

